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Mustang! What a furor
it caused in 1964 when it came out. Everybody wanted one. The
coupe and convertible were first, followed by the fastback, or
2+2, which had a small folding rear seat. My Air Force buddy, Craig,
showed up with a red 2+2 one day, and I knew I had to have one. Both
of ours had the solid lifter 271 hp "High Performance" (HiPo) 289 engine, which carried
only a
3 month or 4,000 mile warranty on the powertrain! The only problem
this caused was continual collapsing of clutch linkage - you knew you had
a failure when the clutch pedal stayed on the floor! Over
time I strengthened the fulcrum in the bell housing by welding in a
gusset, and welded reinforcements on the bellcrank. These fixes cured the problem.
Never mind, it was a stout motor in a light car. I put a Shelby high
rise intake, four tube headers, and a light flywheel in, and turned
13.79 at the local drag strip. This Mustang had the new disc brake
option, without power assist and would stop very well.
This Mustang was really quick up to about 100 mph, beyond that the 69
Corvette would out accelerate it. Just so there is no confusion,
this Mustang was a sporty car, not a Sports Car! The MSRP sticker
below provides the details of the options on the car, and the price,
$3,728.35! I sold it when I had the opportunity to buy a
Corvette
and never looked back - except for now. |